Abstracts
Abstract
Dropping out of piano lessons before reaching a moderate mastery of the instrument is a frequent problem among students. Previous research finds that children often leave music lessons as the result of predictors such as expertise—measured by musical ability, academic achievement, and musical achievement—and environment—measured by social and educational status, gender differences, parental involvement, and home culture. Fifty-five former piano students and their parents filled out questionnaires with Likert-scale, multiple choice, and open-ended questions in a mixed-methods study. This group was compared to 153 students and parents who were still involved with lessons. The results between the two groups show that many of the attrition factors outlined in the literature predicted piano student dropouts as well.
Résumé
Abandonner les cours de piano avant d’atteindre une maîtrise raisonnable de l’instrument est un problème fréquent parmi les étudiants. De précédentes recherches ont montré que les enfants décrochent des leçons de musique à la lumière de facteurs tels que l’expertise — mesurée par l’habilité musicale, l’accomplissement académique, et l’accomplissement musical — et l’environnement — mesurée le statut social et éducationnel, les différences de genre, l’investissement parental, et la culture à la maison. Cinquante-cinq anciens étudiants en piano et leurs parents ont rempli des questionnaires contenant des questions selon l’échelle de Likert, à choix multiple, et à réponse ouverte dans le cadre d’une étude en méthodes mixtes. Ce groupe a été comparé à cent cinquante-trois étudiants et parents qui poursuivaient encore leurs leçons. Les résultats entre ces deux groupes montrent que plusieurs facteurs d’attrition soulignés dans la littérature ont également prédit le décrochage des étudiants en piano.
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Appendices
Biographical notes
Karen Gerelus is a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary researching musical identity and motivation with piano students. She holds degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Ottawa, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Trinity College London. Her research has been featured across North America at conferences, in print, and on podcasts. She is a third-generation piano teacher with an active private studio where she teaches piano, pedagogy, music history, and theory.
Gilles Comeau, professor at the School of Music of the University of Ottawa, co-ordinates the piano pedagogy and the music education sectors. Dr. Comeau has been the beneficiary of many research grants, including a large grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to set up a research laboratory in piano pedagogy. As head of this infrastructure, he has established partnerships with many other research laboratories and set up multidisciplinary research groups that study piano learning and piano teaching.
Mikael Swirp earned a BSc in mechanical engineering in Calgary and completed his licentiate with Trinity College London in piano performance. This combination of music and engineering is well suited to his role in the Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory at the University of Ottawa. He is responsible for the technical aspects of the operation of the lab, as well as collaborating with researchers.
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